The Flames of Love

Chapter 32: The Terrifying 2x Poison Jelly.

The mumbling in the village had gotten louder at Lucy's idea that it had attracted the Headman toward them.

"What is the meaning of all this noise?!" The headman yelled, making everyone turn to look at him. Lucy moved forward to talk to him.

"Please hear me out! The enemy is going to attack very soon!" Lucy said, looking at the Headman.

"Enemy?!" The headman yelled in confusion at this information.

"They live in the ruins in the forest. They're the bad guys who made those things happen to your bodies!" Lucy told the headman what they liked when they went out this morning.

"I never heard anything about this! You mean you haven't destroyed the moon yet?!" the headman yelled at Lucy, making her jump back a little at him, raising his voice.

"W-what I'm saying, there's no need to destroy the moon anymore. Once we catch these bad guys," Lucy said with a nervous look on her face, but the Headman started to go a little manic, which caused a couple of villagers to carry off to calm him down.

"Don't worry about him about him, just do what you can. He's still distraught over what happened to Bobo... his son," A villager told her.

"I see," Lucy said, watching the Headman getting dragged off.

"If not for the moon, Bobo wouldn't have..." The villager said he cut himself off when thinking about the lost man.

"Leave it to us! We can get this solved," Lucy said with determination.

"Princess, the preparations are complete," Virgo said as she appeared before her master and the little blue cat.

"Thank you, Virgo, you always dig holes so fast," Lucy praised the spirit, who looked at her before tilting her head at her.

"Are you saying that to punish me ?" Virgo asked, making Lucy jump in, surprised at the question.

"It's praise!!" Lucy said in confusion at her spirit as she looked around for someone, but Lucy shrugged it off and went back to looking at her trap.

"Excuse me..." Happy said as he looked up at Lucy with a frown.

"What is it happy?" Lucy asked as she walked past the little cat.

"I am increasingly convinced that you, Lucy, are a fool," Happy said, pointing at the blonde mage.

"Do you have to be so analytical when you say that?" Lucy said with a sweat drop, looking down at the cat.

"Do you think they'll fall for such an obvious trick?" Happy asked as he looked between the mage and the trap.

"What are you talking about? My trap is perfect!" Lucy said with a smile.

"Aye...it is the concept itself that convinces me you are a fool," Happy said as he looked at her in a sober way, not seeing how someone would fall for this plan.

"But this village has only one entrance, right? So the enemy has to come in that way!" Lucy smile at her reasoning got her trap even if the other don't agree.

"I doubt anyone is going to fall for it," Happy said flatly. A couple of villagers agreed with him, and even Virgo agreed, which upset Lucy that her spirit disagreed with her.

"If Shi was here, she'd like it! Just wait! I'll show you all!" Lucy said in a glum tone.

"Lucy-san!! Something's coming this way!" The gate guard yelled down to the blonde.

"It's them! Open the gate!!" Lucy yelled at him, making him nod at her before opening the gate.

"Now come and get us!!" Lucy said, standing strong before the opening gate, but everyone freaked out when they saw the three missing wizards.

"Hey Everyone!!" Hoshi said with a smile as she waved her hands at them.

"Are you all okay?!" Natsu yelled as he wobbled next to Hoshi.

"NO!! You can't come in!!" Lucy yelled at them, making both Hoshi and Natsu slow down.

"Huh?" Natsu and Hoshi said as they stopped just before the trap.

"Hold it!! Stop!!" Lucy said, waving her arms around, making the duo look at each other in confusion.

"What's this?" Natsu asked making Hoshi look down at the cover on the floor with a rise brow. Natsu stood on it, but it fell under him, making Hoshi yelp at getting pulled down with him.

"So there is somebody who'd fell in..." One villager said in shock.
"I never thought anybody would..." Another villager said with a shocked face.

"A complete failure!" Lucy said in shock, staring down at the three in the hole.

"Why drag me down!" Hoshi asked as she sat up in the hole before helping Gray and Natsu.

"Sorry, Star. Who is playing pranks at a time like this?!" Natsu asked from the floor as he held Gray on his lap steady.

"It has to be Lucy! Who else?" Happy said with a frown, making Hoshi look up at her sister, who gave a nervous smile back.

"I knew it!" Natsu grumbled as he gently pushed Gray to the floor, making sure not to harm him anymore.

"It's not!!" Lucy yelled at them.

"But I'm glad to see all three are okay!" Happy said with a smile down at them.

"We're not okay! Gray is down!" Hoshi said as she looked over Gray's injuries again to ensure nothing had reopened.

"Did that masked guy do that?" Happy asked, looking at Gray with a frown.

Natsu looked down in shock at his body. "The Ice broke off!! Huh? But the fire didn't do a thing to it?!"

Hoshi gave him a smile before going back to helping Gray with her supplies.

"Just as I planned," Lucy said with a nervous giggle.

"You're quite far away from the wizard who cast the spell, so the distance likely weakened it," Virgo said, staring down at the fire dragon slayer.

"All right!!" Natsu called as he looked at Hoshi, who nodded at him to show that he could move the knocked-out Gray out of the hole.

"Gray..." Lucy worriedly looked down at Gray, who lay peacefully on the ground.

"But even so... those guys haven't gotten here yet?" Natsu asked as he helped Hoshi out of the hole.

"Now that you mention it, they are overdue; they should have started for the village after you two. So if you two arrived before they did," Lucy said as she looked between Hoshi and Natsu, who nodded at her.

"Yeah... and we had to climb a hill, and it was pretty hard going, so it was pretty hard going, so it took a lot of time to get here," Natsu said, walking away from the hole.

"Now's our chance to cover the trap again!!" Lucy said with a smile, making Hoshi shake her head with a smile.

"Let's not," Happy said, which made Hoshi giggle but get a playful push from Lucy.

"This really is weird; they're taking too much time," Happy said as he looked down.

"So they're lost! They're pathetic!" Natsu said as he looked around the area.

"I don't think so. You have a clear view of the village from the ruins," Hoshi said, turning to look at Natsu. Lucy hummed in agreement with Hoshi as Natsu looked at them.

"Wh-what's that up there?!" A villager yelled, getting everyone's attention to look up where he pointed in the sky. "It's a flying rat!!" Someone yelled as they stared at the giant running, flying high over their village.
"What's that?! What's the bucket for?!!" Another villager yelled as they watched the rat.

"The sky...? That means my trap is useless!!" Lucy cried, making Hoshi rub her back while Natsu and Happy gave her an odd look. On top of the rat stood the three minions of Lyon, watching the villagers below with glares.

"It certainly took a long time to prepare the 2x-poison jelly," Sherry said with a sad tone as she looked down.

"However it was perfect timing, the wizards in question are also in the village" yuka said looking at the Fairy Tail groups with a smirk.

"Until Deliora is destroyed, our wish will not be fulfilled, and anyone who stands in our way must meet with Death!" Sherry says in a dark tone as she glares down at the villagers and the Fairy Tail group. Hoshi and Lucy both saw a drop of whatever was in the bucket come down to them.

"Jelly?" Hoshi asked as she looked up and tried to touch it.

"Star!!" Natsu screamed as he tackled her out of the way of the drop as it landed, killing the plant where she once stood.

"Whoa!" Hoshi said as she sat up, holding Natsu's arm. As she sat up, he held her close as Happy and Lucy came over to ensure they were ok.

"What was that dangerous smell?!" Natsu asked as he looked back at the jelly burn on the ground.

"Is that bucket filled with that stuff?!" a villager yelled in panic. "Th-they can't be thinking of dumping it all on us?" Another villager yelled, causing more panic.

"What ugliness!" Yuka yelled, causing Natsu to perk up; hearing their voices caused him to squeeze Hoshi's side.

"What's wrong, dragon boy?" Hoshi asked as she looked at him. He ignored her and ran his hand over her scar to help him focus on the voices.

"I never thought that moon drip turns people so ugly," Yuka said, looking over the village.

"It's as if they're all demons! They're so repulsive. They could be the children of Deliora!" Sherry said. Natsu heard this make him growl in anger, making Hoshi look at him with worry, the same as Happy.

"Angelica, do what you must! Sherry said as the rat swung the bucket, spilling jelly.

"How are we supposed to defend ourselves against that?!" Lucy yelled as Natsu and Hoshi got back to their feet quickly.

"Everybody gather in the center of the village!!" Hoshi yelled, waving her hands as Natsu called out the same order.

"Hoshi? Natsu?" Lucy yelled at them as they worked together.

"Happy can you fly?" Natsu yelled at him, which got him an 'aye' as Happy jumped up with his wings out.

"I can't!! I can't leave the grave of my son Bobo!!" the headman yelled while holding his son's grave, not caring if the jelly killed him.
"Headman!! I know how you feel, but..." A village yelled, looking at him.

Happy grabbed Natsu and started to fly up to the jelly and chanted a spell; "Take the flame of my right hand and combine it with the flame of my left hand, Karyu-no kon" (Fire dragon gleaming flame!)

Natsu flames burnt a hole straight through the jelly, causing the villages to jump at the bang and hide with one another while Hoshi covered Lucy, and Lucy held herself closer to Hoshi.

"He blasted it apart?! He's a fire wizard!!" Yuka yelled, glaring down at the hole in their plan.

As all the village gathered where Hoshi and Natsu told them, one of them spotted the Headman still at Bobo's stone, making them call out to him as a splash of jelly nears him.

They watched as the jelly hit the side, but as the dust cleared, it showed that the headman was no longer there, causing everyone to look in shock. However, Virgo slowly came back up with the headman in her arms.

"I have the headman available for punishment," Virgo said while holding the older man, staring in confusion.

"Virgo!!" Lucy said with a smile, happy that the headman was safe. The dust settles around slowly, showing that nothing has survived. All the village is gone, making the village look around in sadness, but some were asking if everyone was alright and if anyone was hurt.
"We saved the villagers, but they really did a number on the village," Lucy said as they looked around.

"Aye!" Happy said, looking around as Hoshi and Natsu glared at the damage.

"Bobo's grave..." The headman said, looking at the damaged graveside in sorrow, causing Hoshi to clench her fist.

"We have to exterminate everyone who is an enemy of Reitei-sama!" Sherry said as she and the others walked closer to the village. This caused Natsu to glare over at them, with Hoshi following suit.

"We wanted to be merciful and give you all a quick, painless death, but it looks like we'll have to see the area bathed in blood instead," Sherry said, glaring at the group with the others standing behind her.

"Huh?" Natsu asked, glaring at her harder, and Hoshi and Lucy glared from behind him.